Scientists of modern india

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17
SCIENTISTS OF MODERN INDIA
T
hedevelopmentofscientificthoughtinmodernIndiacanbeattributedtothescientists
of this period.Towards the second half of the nineteenth century, Sir C.V. Raman
brought about an unprecedented change in Indian scientific thought, Dr. Homi J.
Bhabha,knownasthefatherofourNuclearPhysics,predictedthefutureofIndianscience.
Dr.J.C.Bose,inthefieldofplantphysiology,Dr.VikramSarabhai,inthefieldofatomic
energyandindustrializationandDr.AbdulKalam,inthefieldofdefencetechnology,brought
about revolutionary changes to reawaken the glory of Modern India
OBJECTIVES
Afterreadingthislessonyouwillbeableto:
 enumerate the important achievements of some of the great Indian scientists of
modern times: and
 enlist their contributions to the service of human society.
17.1 SRINIVAS RAMANUJAN (1887-1920)
SrinivasaAiyangarRamanujan(FRS)betterknownasSrinivasaIyengarRamanujan,one
ofIndia’sgreatestmathematicalgenius,wasbornatErodeinTamilNaduon22December,
1887. Later on, his parents shifted to Kumbakonam, 160 kilometres from Chennai.
RamanujanstudiedattheTownHallSchoolinKumbakonam,whereheprovedhimselfto
beanableall-rounder.However,hisloveofmathematicswasunusual.Numbersseemed
todrawhimbyastrangemagnetism.Inschoolitselfattheageofthirteen,hecameacross
a book called Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure Mathemetic by G. S. Carr.
Thoughoutdated,thisbookintroducedhimtotheworldofmathematics.Hestartedworking

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and developing his own ideas in mathematics. He used to write his ideas and results and
makenotesonhisfindings.
Threeofhisresearchnotebooksareavailabletous.TheyarecalledRamanujan’sFrayed
Notebooks. He could not complete his college education as he kept on developing his
ideasandstartedposingproblemsandsolvingthemintheJournalofIndianMathematical
Society. In 1911, he published in the same journal a brilliant research paper on Bernoulli
Numbers. This got him recognition and he became well known in Madras circles as a
mathematicalgenius.
Lackofformaleducationmadeitverydifficultforhimtomakebothendsmeet.Withgreat
difficulty he could get the job of a clerk at Madras PortTrust which proved fortunate for
him. Here he came in contact with many people who had training in mathematics. He
found a book ‘Orders of Infinity’written by G. H. Hardy. He wrote a letter to him in
whichhementioned120theoremsandformulae.Hardywasquicktorecognisehisgenius
and he responded by arranging for him a passage to London. Despite his lack of required
qualificationhewasallowedtoenrollatTrinityCollegefromwherehegothisBachelorof
Science degree in less than two years. He formed a wonderful team with Hardy and J.E.
Littlewood and made amazing contributions to the field of mathematics. He published
many papers in London. He was the second Indian to be elected Fellow of the Royal
Society of London and the first Indian to be elected Fellow ofTrinity College.
Ramanujanhadanintimatefamiliaritywithnumbers.In1917,hefellseriouslyill,butthe
numbersremainedhisfriend,thoughhisbodybetrayedhim.Unfortunately,hishealthbecame
worse and he returned to India in 1919, “With a scientific standing and reputation”. He
died in 1920. His mathematical genius is a proof that India indeed is the birthplace and
sourceofgreatmathematicalideas.
17.2 CHANDRASEKHARA V. RAMAN (1888-1970)
ChandrasekharaV.Raman,popularlyknownasC.V.Raman,wasnotonlyagreatscientist
but also believed in the promotion of human well being and human dignity. He won the
Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930.He was the firstAsian to receive this award.
C.V. Raman was born on 7 November 1888 inTiruchirapalli, inTamil Nadu. His father
was a professor of Physics and Mathematics. He grew up in an environment of Sanskrit
literature, music and science. Nature had gifted him with great power of concentration,
intelligenceandspiritofinquiry.Eveninhischildhood,hewaspopularasachildgenius.
He stood first in the IndianAudit andAccounts (IAAS) Examination and was appointed
asAssistantAccountantGeneralintheFinanceDepartmentinCalcuttaattheageofnineteen.
He sacrificed his high post for his love for science and joined the Science College of
Calcutta University as a professor of Physics. Due to his deep love of music, he started
workingonmusicalinstrumentsliketheveena,violin,tablaandmridangam.In1921,he

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readapaperonthetheoryofStringedInstrumentsbeforetheRoyalSocietyofLondon.In
1924, he was made Fellow of the Royal Society.
On his journey to England, he was greatly attracted by the blue colour of the sea. He was
curious to know why it remained blue even when big waves rolled up. Then he got the
intuitive flash that it was due to the breaking up of sun’s light by water molecules. He
conducted many experiments and prepared a long paper on molecular scattering of light
and sent it to the Royal Society of London. The world of science was dumb struck at the
brillianceofhismind.
Raman Effect
Whenabeamofmonochromatic(havingsinglecolour)lightpassesthroughatransparent
substance, it scatters. Raman studied the broken light. He found that there were two
spectrallinesofverylowintensity(strength)paralleltotheincidentmonochromaticlight.
This showed that broken light was not monochromatic, though the incident light was
monochromatic. Thus a great phenomenon hidden in nature was revealed to him. This
phenomenon became famous as Raman Effect and spectral lines in the scattered light as
RamanLines.Whilescientistshadbeendebatingoverthequestionwhetherlightwaslike
wavesorlikeparticles,theRamanEffectprovedthatlightismadeupofparticlesknown
as photons.
Dr.Ramanwasagreatteacherandagreatguideaswell.Hegeneratedimmenseconfidence
among his students. One of his students was in very low morale because he had only one
kilowattpoweredX-Rayequipment,whereasascientistinEnglandwasworkingwith5
kilowattpoweredX-Rayequipment.Dr.Ramaninspiredhimtousehis10kilowattpowered
braininstead.
Dr.Raman’slifeisagreatexampleforustofollow.EvenwhenIndiawasunderBritishrule
andtherewashardlyanybasicinfrastructureforexperimentation,heusedhisgreatmind
ashislaboratory.Heprovedthroughtheexampleofhislife,howourancestorsformulated
greattheoriesusingthepoweroftheirmind.
17.3 JAGDISH CHANDRA BOSE 1858-1937
J.C.BoseanothergreatscientistofmodemIndiabroughtgloryandrespectforthecountry.
He was born on 30 November, 1858 at Mymensingh, now in Bangladesh, where he had
hisearlyeducation.HehadhishighereducationatSt.XaviersCollege,Calcutta.In1885
he was appointedAssistant Professor of Physics at the Presidency College but refused to
take salary because it was nearly half of that of an Englishman. Later on, he decided to
become a scientist to recover the fame that India enjoyed all over the world in ancient
times. He made an apparatus to study the properties of electric waves. For his paper on
“TheElectromagneticRadiationandPolarizationofElectricRay”,hewasmadeaKnight

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in 1917 and Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1920. He was the first Indian
scientistinPhysicstoreceivethishonour.
Dr.BoseisfamousallovertheworldastheinventorofCrescographthatcanrecordeven
themillionthpartofamillimeterofplantgrowthandmovement.Dr.Boseprovedthrough
graphs taken by the Crescograph that plants have a circulatory system too. Crescograph
hasalsoshownthattheupwardmovementofsapinplantsistheactivityoflivingcells.
Dr.BosealsomademanyotherinstrumentsfamousallovertheworldasBoseinstruments,
to prove that even metals react to outward stimuli. Bose’s instruments have shown, how
evensteelandmetalsusedinscissorsandmachinerygettiredandregainefficiencyaftera
period of rest.
Besides Crescograph and other Bose instruments, his wireless inventions too antedated
thoseofMarconi.Hewasthefirsttoinventawirelesscoherer(radiosignaldetector)and
an instrument for indicating the refraction of electric waves. When someone drew his
attentiontowardsthisfact,hesimplyremarkedthatitisaninventionwhichismoreimportant
formankindthantheinventor.
INTEXT QUESTIONS 17.1
1. WhoiscalledthefatherofnuclearphysicsinIndia?
_______________________________________________________________
2. SrinivasaRamanujanexcelledinwhichfield?
_______________________________________________________________
3. Which work of Ramanujan Srinivasa was published in the Journal of Indian
MathematicalSociety?
_______________________________________________________________
4. Who wrote the Orders of Infinity?
_______________________________________________________________
5. When did C.V. Raman win Nobel prize for physics?
_______________________________________________________________
6. What attracted the most to C.V. Raman during his journey to England?
_______________________________________________________________
7. Which paper was written by C.V. Raman and sent to Royal Society of London?
_______________________________________________________________

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8. WhatiscalledRamanEffect?
_______________________________________________________________
9. What are photons?
_______________________________________________________________
10. WhatworkofJagdishChandraBosegavehimKnightpositioninLondon?
_______________________________________________________________
11. Who invented Crescograph?
_______________________________________________________________
12. What does a Crescograph record?
_______________________________________________________________
13. Whoinventedthefirstwirelesscoherer?
_______________________________________________________________
17.4 HOMI JEHANGIR BHABHA (1909-1966)
Dr.HomiJehangirBhabhawasagreatscientist.HeledIndiaintoatomicage.Heiscalled
thefatherofIndianNuclearScience.Hewasbornon30October,1909inafamousParsi
family. Even as a boy, he showed his intelligence and won many prizes. He did his early
studies in Mumbai. He took a degree in Mechanical Engineering in First Class from
Cambridge,completedresearchworkthereandreceivedhisdoctoratein1935.Till1939,
hecarriedoutstandingoriginalresearchrelatingtocosmicradiation.HereturnedtoIndia
when the Second World War started.
Dr.BhabhajoinedtheIndianInstituteofSciencesatBangaloreasaReaderattherequest
of Dr. C.V. Raman. Soon he became a Professor of Physics. It was here that he got the
idea of building a research institute for some of the new areas of Physics. He took a very
bolddecisionandwrotealettertoSirDorabJiTatasuggestingthataninstitutionshouldbe
establishedwhichwouldlaythefoundationofIndiaasaworldnuclearpower.Thisinstitute
would produce its own experts and the country would not have to depend on outside
sources.As a result,Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) was started in 1945,
at Dr. Bhabha’s ancestral home.
India’sfirstatomicresearchcentrenowcalledBhabhaAtomicResearchCentre(BARC)
was established at Trombay. India’s First atomic reactor,Apsara was also established
under his expert guidance. Bhabha became the first chairman of the Atomic Energy
Commission set up in 1948. His studies in the field of atomic energy are considered of
great importance in international circles. He served as the chairman of international

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conference on peaceful uses of atomic energy, supported by the United Nations. The
Government of India honoured him with Padma Bhushan. In 1966, Dr. Bhabha died in a
planecrash.
17.5 DR. VIKRAM AMBALAL SARABHAI (1919-1970)
Dr. VikramAmbalal Sarabhai is another great genius of modem India. He was the main
personalitybehindthelaunchingofIndia’sfirstsatelliteAryabhatta.Hereceivedhisprimary
educationataschoolrunbyhisparents.HestudiedcosmicraysundertheguidanceofDr.
C.V. Raman and received his Ph.D. degree from Cambridge University. His studies of
cosmic rays have made it clear that cosmic rays are a stream of energy particles coming
fromtheouterspace.Whilereachingtheearth,theyareinfluencedonthewaybythesun,
theearth’satmosphereandmagnetism.
Dr.Sarabhaihadamultifacetedpersonality.Hewasagreatindustrialist.Today, thereare
many industries founded by him such as Sarabhai Chemicals, Sarabhai Glass, Sarabhai
Geigy Ltd., Sara Bhai Merck Ltd. and many others. He also helped in saving crores of
rupeesforIndiabystartingthemissionofmanufacturingmilitaryhardwareandproducing
antibioticsandpenicillininIndiawhichwerebeingimportedfromabroad.Hewasalsothe
founderofAhmedabadTextileIndustrialAssociationandAhmedabadMoneyAssociation.
Inthisway,heestablishedalargenumberofsuccessfulindustries.
Dr.VikramAmbalalSarabhaiestablishedmanyinstituteswhichareofinternationalrepute.
MostnotableamongthemareIndianInstitutesofManagement(IIMS)whichareconsidered
worldclassfortheirmanagementstudies.
He was the Chairman of the Indian National Commission for Space Research
(INCOSPAR)andoftheAtomicEnergyCommission.HedirectedthesettingupofThumba
Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS). He also made plans to take education to
the villages through Satellite communication. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in
1966 and the Padma Vibhushan after his death. His death was a great loss to the nation.
17.6 DR. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM
Dr.A.P.J .Abdul Kalam, the eleventh President of India was born on 15 October, 1931,
in the island town of Rameshwaram, inTamil Nadu. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna,
India’s highest civilian honour in 1997 for his contributions in the field of science and
engineering.
Dr. Kalam had his primary education at Rameshwaram. He passed his class ten exams
from Schwartz High School, Ramanathapuram and obtained a degree inAeronautical
EngineeringfromMadrasInstituteofTechnology.

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Dr. Kalam served in Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from 1963 to 1982.At
VikramSarabhaiSpaceCentre,hedevelopedtheSatelliteLaunchVehicle(SLV3),which
put the satellite Rohini into orbit. In 1982, as Director, Defence Research Development
Organisation (DRDO), he was given the responsibility of Integrated Guided Missile
Development Programme (IGMDP). He developed five projects for defence services -
Prithvi,Trishul,Akash,Nag andAgni. He led India into an era of self-dependence.Agni,
whichisasurfacetosurfacemissile,isauniqueachievement.Itssuccessfullaunchmade
Indiaamemberoftheclubofhighlydevelopedcountries.Thelightweightcarbonmaterial
designedforAgnihasbeenusedtomakecalipersforthepolio-affected.Thematerialhas
reduced the weight of calipers to 400 grams from 4 kgs. It is a great blessing for human
beings. The material has also been used for making spring like coils called stents, which
areusedinBalloonAngioplastyfortreatingheartpatients.
Dr. Kalam’s life is a symbol of the true spirit of India. He is a real follower of Indian
traditionandreligion.Hehasintegratedsciencewithreligionandphilosophy.Hestrongly
believesinbeingguidedfrominsidei.e.“relyingmoreoninnersignalsandlessonexternal
cues” as well as doing duties selflessly. Dr. Kalam says, “I have no belongings in the
worldly sense. I have acquired nothing, built nothing, possess nothing, no family, sons,
daughters.”
INTEXT QUESTIONS 17.2
1. What was the research work of Dr. Homi J. Bhabha?
_______________________________________________________________
2. Which institution was opened at Dr. Bhabha’s ancestral home in 1945?
_______________________________________________________________
3. What was the name of the firstAtomic Reactor?
_______________________________________________________________
4. What are cosmic rays?
_______________________________________________________________
5. How did Dr.Vikram Sarabhai able to save crores of Indian rupees?
_______________________________________________________________
6. WhatisTERLS?
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7. Name the projects for defence services developed by Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam.
_______________________________________________________________
8. How did DrAbdul Kalam help polio-affected people?
_______________________________________________________________
WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT
 Srinivasa Ramanujan was a great mathematical genius of India who has several
outstandingachievementsinthisfieldtohiscredit.
 C.V.RamanwasanoutstandingIndianscientistwhowontheNobelPrizeforPhysics
in1930.Hisfindingthatlightismadeupofparticlesknownasphotonsisknownasthe
RamanEffect.
 Dr. J.C. Bose is credited with the invention of the Crescograph that can record plant
growthandmovement,amongotherachievements,likedevisinginstrumentsknown
asBoseinstruments.
 Dr. Homi Bhabha was another great Indian Scientist who led India into the atomic
age.
 Dr.Vikram Sarabhai was another great genius of modem India who was behind the
launching of India’s first satelliteAryabhatta. He was also a great industrialist who
founded many industries. He was the chairperson of INCOSPAR and theAtomic
EnergyCommissions.
 Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, the President of India, developed the SLV3 which put the
satelliteRohiniintoorbit.AsDirectorofDRDO,hedevelopedfiveprojects-Prithvi,
Trishul,Akash,NagandAgni.HecontinuestoinspiretheIndianyouthtilltoday.
TERMINAL EXERCISE
1. Describe the contributions of Jagdish Chandra Bose in the field of sicence and
Technology.
2. Elaborate the efforts of Dr. Homi J. Bhabha in building India a super nuclear power.
3. How was C.V. Raman able to prove that our ancestors formulated great theories
usingthepoweroftheirmind?
4. Dr Kalam’s life is a symbol of the true spirit of India. Discuss.

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ANSWERS TO INTEXT QUESTIONS
17.1
1. HomiJ.Bhabha
2. Mathematics
3. AresearchpaperonBernoullinumbers.
4. G.H. Hardy
5. In 1930
6. Blue colour of the sea
7. Onemolecularscatteringoflight
8. Inthebrokenlight,thereweretwospectrallinesoflowintensityparalleltotheincident
monochromaticlight.Thisshowedthatthebrokenlightwasnotmonochromaticthough
theincidentlightwasmonochromatic.
9. Particlesthattogethermakelight
10. HispaperontheElectromagneticRadiationandpolarization.
11. Jagdish Chandra Bose
12. Themillionthpartofacentimetergrowthofaplantanditsmovement.
13. Jagdish Chandra Bose
17.2
1. CosmicRadiation
2. TataInstituteofFundamentalResearch(TIFR).
3. Apsara
4. Cosmic rays are a stream of energy particles coming from the outer space.
5. Hestartedthemanufacturingofmilitaryhardwareandproducingantibioticsandpenicillin
inIndia.
6. ThumbaEquatorialRocketLaunchingStation
7. Prithvi,Trishul,Akash,Nag,andAgni
8. He reduced the weight of caliphers from 4 kgs to 400 gms only.